the Bard's Tavern

I wanted to take a moment to give you a quick insight into my creative process, because I find it strange and almost embarrassing but maybe it can help you in your creative process.

When I listen to music in the car it’s either bands like Paramour or Breaking Benjamin for the energy. Sometimes it’s a little Weird Al or Flight of the Conchords for fun, or an audio book (most of the time it’s the audio book). When I’m writing it’s all about the mood of the scene with anyone from Amanda Palmer to Tenacious D. But I usually, draw the line at most pop music and yet, when I’m doing graphic art I tend to listen to Ke$ha and La Roux but I think I know why.

Graphic art is as much left brain as it is right brain. Sure, I’m doing art but I’m having to remember commands like Ctrl+M or Shift-Click to pull open a vector. When I’m writing I’m just letting words flow through the muscle memory of typing, much like writing this entry, I don’t think about each letter I’m typing or where it is on the keyboard I just think of words and my fingers move to create them. But there is still a lot of left brained processing in graphic art even if it needs right brained processing for the art itself. While I may never call a Niki Minaj song “good music” I have to admit that it’s still music. Music stimulates my right brain, but it’s also very repetitiousness and neigh-mathematical in production which goes well to sate the left brain.

So, the next time you’re having trouble finding a song to fit your mood when you’re working on a creative project you could probably do far worse than typing Katy Perry into your Pandora station and seeing what happens.

Okay, I know I’m harping on Mr. Correia and I’m aware that many people like his books and you might too. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad book I just think it could have been sooo much better. I do hear the second one is better, and I’ll admit now that I may end up reading his books in the future and I may like them. Besides, Monster Hunter International was his first book. Many of my favorite authors flat out admit their first book is one that should never be published. Stephanie Meyers is another one of those who’s laughing all the way to the bank, but I digress.

I read an article of what Twilight would have been like if written by other authors. It was fun, but some of the examples were just lame, but I suddenly had this idea; “What if Larry Correia had written a Highlander Novel?” So here it goes.

Duncan felt that distinct buzz that sharpened his sense, telling him of another immortal and preparing him for battle. Reaching into his long coat he wrapped his hand around the dragon shaped hand carved ivory handle of his tachi and drew the twenty-nine inches of folded Japanese steel from the hidden scabbard with a smooth and silent motion. As more then six-thousand layers of of clay tempered, hand sharpened metal glistened in a nearby light Duncan shifted his grip below the coppery tsuba to use the flat of his mirror polished weapon to see over his shoulder as he turned to face his opponent. The other immortal, a man of average looks, stood with his ninth century Viking sword ready for battle. The high-carbon edged weapon was dark and ominous due to it’s razor sharp Damascus folding. The twenty-six inches of metal almost sung as the man brought the three pound weapon up and into a relaxed middle guard.

I’ll even admit that it’s kind of sad I knew enough about sword to over describe them in the first place. Heh-heh!

I’d started watching a new TV show called “Unforgetable” about a female detective, played by Poppy Montgomery, who has an eidetic memory so she can recall anything and everything. It’s a good concept but the show is not that great in execution. Poppy is an amazingly attractive woman and her character almost rivals Stana Katic’s portrayal of Kate Beckett in being strong without loosing her femininity. I want to stop and point out that Detective Benson played by Mariska Hargitay is not really a very feminine character. Don’t get me wrong, Mariska is a gorgeous woman but her character is so hardened by her job that her role is often more matriarchal in power and while attractive in form it’s hard to be attracted to he character. Stana’s Kate Beckett can be hard, but there are enough cracks and flippant remarks that make her seem approachable.

I am going somewhere with this.

As much as I like watching Poppy on screen, and as well as her character is written I’m still having problems getting into this show and I finally realized why, as hinted above. The show has a good lead character, interesting plot, and good pacing but it lacks emotional hooks. I’m simply expected to return to the show after the commercial break to find out what happens next in the plot, but I don’t find myself really caring about the characters. These days all the other “crime” shows out there have well constructed plots, so now a well twisted plot is so expected that it’s mediocrity even when it’s well done. In “Unforgettable” we hear that they think they know the killer is and they have to go get to them – cut to commercial. Well, at this point my only question is; “Do they get there in time?” but in truth I don’t care if they do or not as the show is going to end with them catching the killer.

Take an episode of Castle where they find a murder victim, they think the know who the killer is, they go do get them and find out their lead suspect was the next victim – cut to commercial. At this point I have a sense of failure associated with my heroes. I knew there was going to be a twist, sure, because it was going to happen right at a commerical break but it’s the sudden sense of “What do we do now?” and “We were wrong this whole time!” that resonate with me. Sure I want to see what happens next, but I’m also emotionally involved.

Take an episode of SVU and in that they would find the murder victim, figure out who the killer is, then go and grab them only to find out the killer is someone who was abused by the victims father – cut to commercial break. Okay, that one seems really contrived but I’m making these up. The point is, you don’t start a show like SVU without wondering how things like that play out. The killer is a victim? It’s an emotional hook that makes you want to find out more about these characters. The plot, contrived or even ridiculous, is executed in a way that is meant to make you feel for everyone involved. Every commercial break in SVU is pegged on an emotion of some sort.

Heck even shows like Two Broke Girls have an upset just before the commercial break. There is always something that makes us care about the people involved. So, that’s what I Plan to do with my writing and I encourage anyone who’s doing games or fiction to strive for some kind of emotion. Even in forum play, don’t tell me that your character is motivated by a past hurt but show me how angry they are because of something in their past.

As the classic rule says: Show, don’t tell.

In Sarah Bowman’s book “Fundamentals of role-playing” she talks a lot about the types of player you find in games. But there isn’t much discussion on the types of GMs. In my imagination I see her doing a follow up, as if this were the players handbook and the next one the dungeon master’s guide. Many people don’t realize that there are truly different types of Game Master, as each has their own style. As they get better the GMs start to blend elements together but they all start with a specific strength. A good GM is fair and cruel. They make you work for that reward and they don’t try to kill you but only marginally try to save you.

Bellow are the extreme examples I’ve seen or even been guilty of. But I try to stay balanced across a few at any given time.

The Monty Haul
This is the GM who gives you everything right away. When you kill an enemy knoll ranger he always has a +2 Long Bow and +1 Short Sword with Magical Leather Armor that you can instantly equip. New players to any game, or new players in general, love Monty because he personifies instant gratification. In just a few sessions you can go from lvl 1 Rogue with a dagger and padded armor to a lvl 5 Rogue with +4 Studded leather and a dagger that does x6 critical damage on a 15-20 Sneak attack. The problem with this GM is that you can get bored quickly as a GM and player. What this GM can do to improve is ebb and flow the rewards. After realizing they are giving away the bank, they can find a way to take that bank away or suddenly add on new responsibilities. If they are sitting on a huge pile of gold the nearest king can show up and demand HUGE taxes.

The Mini G
This is the GM who loves to break out the Reaper Minatures and usually has an erasable mat. This GM is great because you can see exactly what is where and it’s hard to get confused about what’s going on in battle because you know exactly who’s standing and where they are. The problem usually comes when, already slow combat is slowed even further as we draw the room and put chairs, tables, then find half a dozen figures and place them. Often this type of GM is also a stickler for how fast you can move in combat and your line of sight to targets and in extreme cases this GM runs games that are nothing more than a series of battles punctuated with plot elements but that’s a different issue. This type of GM can improve by learning to icon things and not draw to scale. Don’t make each square a 3×3′ box and then use up half your map drawing out a 45′ clearing. We often don’t need to know how many steps it will take to get from us to the ork we just say we run that way and let the GM tells u if we’ll make it. More like Chess and less like Warhammer.

The Train Conductor
This is the GM who makes sure you have little to no options of doing anything unless it falls into the process of telling a pre-determined story. If the story requires you to go to a town then the forest on either side of the only road leading up to it will be impassible or there is nothing going on in any of the surrounding towns. This is good for new players, to some degree, who may need someone to show them what to do as they don’t know enough of the game to branch out on their own. In addition some players can have too much freedom and so structure is needed when they lack self motivation outside of just a desire to play that weekend. What this GM can do to improve is to realize the players need to be the heroes of their own story, but they need a story to be the hero of. Write adventures with flexibility but still write them with goals and details.

The TV Producer
This is the GM who treats the game like a TV show. They want to throw in surprises so they have to throw in random plot twists to keep the players from figuring things out, like the series “Lost”. New players to a game like this because everything is new to them so these sudden plot twists seem epic in scope. At some point however even the GM will have lost track of what the original goal was. What this GM can do to improve is keep a log of all the plot elements and review them now and again. At some point it’s going to be necessary to trim things that just aren’t working but know that your players have no idea what you were planning so if you drop something that’s just “too much” it won’t matter as they didn’t know it was there in the first place.

The Non-Player
This is the GM who still wants to be a PC so they introduce a powerful NPC to the story. This primary NPC is often far more powerful than the players and set up in a position of power or importance to the story. A nice Paladin or Fighter Mage who has just the perfect combination of feats to allow him to spell cast in chain mail is a great example and easy to achieve since the GM made them with this goal in mind. Players new to a game will actually welcome this Non-Player as both a template to aspire towards as well as someone to cling to as a fledgling. Players tend to develop their character organically so it’s nice for them to see someone focused and streamlined. However, the players need to be the star of the show and not the side kicks of the adventure. At some point the non-player needs to get rid of their own character and force the players to stand on their own two feet.

the Die Slayer
This is usually a GM who’s really good at rolling dice, so good in fact that they will roll to do maximum damage while you end up failing the roll needed to save your character. When this happens the Die Slayer has no guilt over the fact that the dice wanted your character to die and will continue the game while you make up a new character. On the one hand it’s good to instill some fear in your players when it comes to possible character deaths, but if a player has more than one character die per game session some contingencies have to be made. This GM tends to run combat heavy games, much like the Mini G. For this type of GM combat equals excitement. What this GM can do to improve is to avoid combat as much as possible and realize that excitement isn’t just trying to survive a fight. When players come into a room don’t have 10 soldiers waiting for them in full armor with weapons drawn, but rather two with weapons and 8 half naked and grabbing improvised weapons. In the end no one is going to talk about the time their character barley killed 5 thieves on an old road but they will remember a half naked soldier hitting them with a thrown wine goblet.

I can honestly say I’d been there with just about all of these, but I quickly learned that it really didn’t matter what kind of GM I was. Truth be told, players want to play and they need a GM for that. Each GM has a focus or an edge over the others. If you didn’t have a touch of the Mini G at all, complex fights and large battles would become confusing and hard to follow. If you didn’t have any elements of Monty Haul you’d have high level characters trying desperately to afford a warm meal and a weapon that worked. Lean from others and learn from yourself, but adapt and evolve.

I’ve been told I’m one of the best GMs some players have had – but lets be honest, it’s not like there is a big pool of GMs that players get to choose from. Still, I try to see what works and fix what doesn’t. In my current Shadowrun game I’m trying to fix a few things that didn’t work, but I can say I tried. At least my players are still coming back so that’s something.

It’s 2012, officially. According to some the Mayan calendar ends on Dec 21st of this year. I’m working on a new book, and I hope to finish it before then but the main character has less than a year to live. Personally I don’t think the world is going to end the day before my birthday seeing as I usually get trumped for the Holidays as it is, now I have to worry about an Apocalypse too?

To quote Buffy The Vampires Slayer: (grabbing a pager) If the apocalypse comes, beep me!

Up to now, however, I’d been trying to figure out how to write a character who believes he’s going to be dead in about a year, but with the theme of 2012 out there I find myself actually considering what I want to do with this year. If it truly was the last year in all the world, what would I want to do with it? I’m reminded of the words of James Dean, “Dream like you’re live forever. Live like you’ll die tomorrow.” Well, without all the burn out. But you get the idea.

If this was your last year, what would you want it to look like? While it would take me at least 9 more years to get published, does that mean I should stop writing? No. While that is a goal, it’s no the point… not for me. And so, this blog will continue but with a new focus on the process of story through multiple mediums.

That even includes Fallout New Vegas (Loving it!)